Greetings from Orlando

The weather is delightful here in the Magic Kingdom but now it’s time to go to work as the NBA Pre-Draft Camp begins tonight. There is a drills session this evening, when the prospects will participate in basic fundamental drills, shooting, etc and teams will be formed and games will begin Wednesday.

The NBA wanted the pre-draft camp to carry more significance, so they banned any personal workouts before the camp, meaning draft prospects only have less than four weeks to audition for teams between the end of the pre-draft camp and the draft. But the league released a list of players participating and it’s nowhere near what they expected.

Former Roosevelt High School standout Marcus Williams, who is projected as a late first-round pick, is not partipicating at all. The most notable players working out this week is Pittsburgh’s Aaron Gray, Oregon’s Aaron Brooks, Arizona’s Mustafa Shakur (who was here last year), Delaware State high scorer Trey Johnson, Florida guard Taurean Green, Ohio State’s Ron Lewis and Marquette underclassman Dominic James.

Washington’s Spencer Hawes and Eastern Washington’s Rodney Stuckey will be present for physicals and interviews only. Kevin Durant and Greg Oden also will be participating in physicals and interviews along with other top prospects along with Chinese prospect Yi Jianlian.